Scouting Tri-Cities area boys volleyball
Geneva VikingsCoach: Anne Seitelman (first year)
Conference: Upstate Eight River
Last year: 25-12, 4-1
Top returning players: Nick Buseski (Sr. OH), Luke Will (Sr. OH), Sam Wulfkuhle (Sr. MB), Jon Bishop (Jr. MB), David Franz (Jr. S)
Top newcomers: Spencer Sharpe (Sr. OH/RS), Ethan Roesch (Sr. DS), Josh Haston (Jr. DS)
Season outlook: The Vikings have been on a steady climb ever since starting their volleyball program four years ago. This year they have a new coach in Seitelman, who played collegiately at Indiana University and also coached the Geneva girls to a regional championship this fall. She likes what she has to work with this spring, plenty of experience back from a 25-win team. "We return a core group from last year's varsity team," Seitelman said. "Our players have worked hard in the off-season to improve. We are looking to build from where we were last year and win a regional championship."
St. Charles East SaintsCoach: Kate McCullagh (sixth year)
Conference: Upstate Eight River
Last year: 23-14, 4-1
Top returning players: Jake Lauger (Jr. S), Jimmy Farace (Jr. OH), Grant Patrick (Jr., MB)
Top newcomers: Michael Carbonell (Jr. OH), Grayson Cain (Sr. RS), Aaron Mudlong (Sr. DS), Sean Fox (Sr. OH), Jack McCann (Sr. MB), Brian Foerstal (Sr. RS)
Season outlook: The Saints graduated all but three of the players from last year's team that upset No. 6 seed Schaumburg in the Geneva regional before falling to Buffalo Grove in the title game. St. Charles East also tied for the Upstate Eight Conference River championship with Geneva and St. Charles North. "This is a rebuilding year and we look forward to seeing how each individual brings something to the team," McCullagh said.
St. Charles North North StarsCoach: Todd Weimer (sixth year)
Conference: Upstate Eight River
Last year: 18-18, 4-1
Top returning players: Brendan Donlevy (Sr. OH/RS), Trevor Gonzaga (Sr. L), Zach Bonstetter (Sr. MH/RS), Drew Lanz (Jr. OH/RS), Jackson Kolodziej (Jr. RS/OH)
Top newcomers: Bryan Verstat (Sr. DS), Mike Norton (Sr. MH), Danny Hamilton (Jr. RS/S), David Washington (Jr. MH), Zac Cook (Jr. OH/DS/U), Luke Denson (So. MH), Danny Throop (So. S).
Season outlook: In addition to sharing the River championship last year, Weimer was proud of the AVCA Team Academic Award the North Stars won. Denson is a two-year starter in soccer, Norton and Verstat played football, Washington is a wrestler and Cook was on the bowling team. Donlevy, a letter-winner in football, is a team captain along with Gonzaga. Kolodziej is another two-sport athlete, a soccer player who will help make up for graduation losses including Jeff Rollins, Ben Connor, Chris Corcoran and Tyler DeMoss. "Coming off an up-and-down season last year, we want to continue to raise the bar," Weimer said. "We have a great mix of youth, athletes, club players, and five returning players. We can do a lot of things well, but we need to play some matches to gauge our ability to compete." The North Stars are pointing toward matches against St. Francis, Maine South, Glenbard East and Glenbard West - among others - to find out where they stand. Weimer said the team is working on communication, team chemistry, effort and determination: "We're trying to get all the players on the same page, build consistency in the fundamentals, develop our middles and our middle attack and lastly, team communication," Weimer said. The North Stars have set goals of conference and regional championships. "We have 12 weeks to learn and compete so I'm looking forward to each day and how we can build on that," Weimer said. "We have some great kids who want to leave a mark before they graduate. It's all about balance between discipline, having fun, working hard and feeling like a winner regardless of the box score." It's a short conference season with only six matches to determine the champ. "It's anyone's ballgame," Weimer said. "Streamwood looks strong. St. Charles East is always a tough cross-town rival. I think everyone will be good ... it's just a matter of who is going to show up at the right time and the right place."
West Aurora BlackhawksCoach: Tolis Koskinaris (seventh year)
Conference: Upstate Eight Valley
Last year: 8-25
Top returning players: Justin Reynolds (Jr. RH/OH), Nick Catania (Sr. OH), Thomas Kovanic (So. MH), Adam Fitzgerald (Jr. S), Erik Haverkate (Jr. RS), Jim Roggeman (Jr. OH), Jacob Chaurize (Jr. DS)
Top newcomers: Tom Garcia (So S/DS), Emanuel Chaidez (So. MH)
Season outlook: The Blackhawks make the move from the DuPage Valley to the Upstate Eight Valley. "Good news - we are a year older and now in the Upstate Eight," Koskinaris said. "Bad news - I loaded our nonconference schedule with so many good teams that it's as if we were still in the DVC." For example, the Blackhawks started the season this week with a loss to Glenbard West. West Aurora has a couple players Koskinaris expects to break out. "Thomas Kovanic and Justin Reynolds are set to explode this year," Koskinaris said. "Most talented team with the most depth in program history. We can go nine deep in 2015 and 2016. The only thing holding these guys back is that they have never experienced true team success on this level. If we can get a couple key wins early on to get our guys to believe, I could see a very deep run in the Oswego East sectional."